White Crystal
by DominoTyler
Summary: The gAng has a sure-fire plan to end the war-the power of a magical, ancient crystal that requires the trust of everyone to possess. But when Katara gets kidnapped, the plan is threatened, and Aang becomes suspicious, will they be able to stop Ozai before things go bad? Zutara!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Though I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, I do partially own a dance in which we are Earth Benders. No really! It's an African Stomp dance!

Please enjoy! I got this idea while reading a fanfiction and listening to the Prince of Egypt soundtrack. I decided I didn't like where the fic was going and changed it...pretty much all around.

:)

The strange feelings in the pit of Zuko's stomach roused him awake the morning after he had arrived home, back to his old bedroom in the Firenation. He supposed they were feelings of regret, feelings of guilt. Lying to his father was probably one of the most riskiest things he'd ever done in his entire life.

Telling his father he'd killed the Avatar had indeed been a very big decision. He'd had to convince Azula that she'd helped kill him during a fight in an Earth Kingdom village. Once she'd believed him dead, Zuko was able to tell his father the Avatar had been done in. He was gone.

Zuko sighed. He rubbed his still tired eyes and laid back in his bed, in need of more sleep. His mind hurt. He'd never done something so daring, but also so caring and loving. It made him tired.

A sharp knock at the door pulled a growl from deep in his throat. He threw off his red silk sheets and stomped to the door, glowering fiercely at the servant who opened the door. The servant hastily bowed, fear evident in her eyes and posture. "Prince Zuko. Your father, Fire Lord Ozai, requests your presence in his war room in an hour."

Zuko was surprised. "Did he tell you why he requests I be there?"

"No, Prince Zuko, just that it was imperative you be there. He mentioned rewards, but nothing more."

Zuko nodded and allowed several servants to enter and begin preparing him to sit in his fathers presence. They pampered and dressed him, they told him how proud they and their nation were of him, how loyal they felt towards him. Zuko had been put on such a high horse in that hour, that the fall wasn't just painful over the next few hours. It was excruciatingly deadly.

"Prince Zuko." His father was smiling at him. At _him_! What was going on? He'd never been smiled at by this man, not once.

Zuko bowed and took his seat on the right side of his father. Azula looked furious at being put on the left. Zuko felt a strange sense of righteousness at being at his father's right hand, over Azula.

"Everyone," Ozai said, standing. "My son, Prince Zuko, has returned triumphant. He has slain the last Airbender, Avatar Aang, and has returned to us. For this, I will give him a reward, along with the privilege of living in the Royal Palace. Bring in the gift!"

There was an explosion, and amidst the rising smoke at the centre of the circular, hollow table, was the figure of a girl. A mysteriously familiar girl.

When all of the smoke had cleared, Zuko saw Katara of the Southern Watertribe, the only waterbender of her tribe, daughter of Chief Hakoda, tied at the wrists and being held tightly by a Firenation guard. And she was also the girl who was meant to be miles away with Aang, preparing for Zuko's return.

What was going on? This wasn't part of the plan!

"We have kidnapped Katara of the Watertribe, the Avatar's companion, to be whatever you want her to be," the Firelord announced. "Slave, servant, maid," he smirked. "Concubine."

Katara was glaring fiercely at the Firelord. Zuko thought he heard a snarl.

As soon as Zuko was able to wipe the shock from his face, he faked a look of gratitude. "Thank you, father. Guard. Take Katara to my room. I shall see to her later."

The guard nodded and yanked hard on Katara's rope. Katara attempted to pull back, but the guard smirked and yanked her forward onto her knees. Zuko saw then that she had been brutally whipped. All up her back and legs were slash marks. Zuko winced.

The war meeting continued as usual. Zuko was itching to get out of there and find out what had happened, and begin to plot how the two of them would get out of this mess. He was sure Katara would be glad that it was him she was given to and not some other Firenation creep. At least this way they could possibly salvage their plan.

So when he was released and nearly ran straight to his room, he definitely wasn't expecting what happened.

"Katara?" he said as he opened the door.

And then, he was hit in the face by a shoe.

...

Hello, my friends! I love Avatar and decided to try my hand at an Avatar fanfiction! Kind of different from my usual Harry Potter.

Everyone! Go and follow my good friend leafysummers who is going to be posting a Zutara story any day now, which I will be BETAing! ^^

Please let me know what you thought of my story! ^^


	2. Chapter 2

"What the-" Zuko grabbed his face and slammed his door shut. "I think you broke my nose!"

"You deserve it!" Katara shouted.

Zuko glared, throwing off pieces of his armour. "I fail to see how I deserve this."

"Oh, really?" Katara exclaimed.

Zuko finally noticed that she was tied to his bed in quite a compromising position.

"So you didn't want me kidnapped to be your slave and/or Concubine?"

"No, I didn't," Zuko said carefully, trying not to sound too angry.

"Like I can believe you," she spat.

Zuko sighed. Ever since he'd joined her, her brother, the blind girl, her brother's girlfriend and the Avatar to defeat his father, Katara had found reason after reason to not trust him. This could definitely be seen as a reason not to trust him. But he'd had nothing to do with it!

"Katara-"

"Don't call me that!" Katara exclaimed. "Call me something else. I only allow my _friends _to call me by my name."

Zuko rolled his eyes and glared. "Find, _peasant_. I had absolutely nothing to do with this. I thought you were still with Aang and your brother at the Air Temple!"

"Well, obviously, I'm not," Katara replied.

"I can see that," Zuko said angrily, turning to face the wall. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think of a way to get her out of there and back to the others.

He let out a yell, a bit of angry flames bursting from his mouth and fists.

"That was incredibly helpful," Katara commented.

"Shut up, Peasant," Zuko growled. "I'm trying to think of a way to get you out of here."

"You do that," Katara replied, quite conspicuously struggling with the ropes binding her to the bed.

Zuko growled at all of the clanging and sent a spark over to burn the ropes away. Fortunately, her hands were still tied. But she was able to escape from her interesting position.

"That's it, then," Zuko finally said. "You're just going to have to stay with me until I get the Crystal and we can escape."

"What?" Katara said, as if he were personally insulting her. "No! My job was to-"

"Does it matter anymore?" Zuko spat. "Aang and Sokka will just have to do it. You got captured, didn't you?"

Katara continued glaring.

"Whatever," Zuko said. "You did say you didn't think I could be trusted to do this by myself. Who better than you to supervise?"

She still didn't say anything.

"Whatever," Zuko repeated. "Close your eyes, I'm changing."

"What time is it?" Katara asked.

"3 am. I had to get up for that stupid war meeting."

"3am? What day?"

Zuko looked at her curiously. "Tuesday."

"I got captured three days ago? It feels like yesterday..."

"Right," Zuko said. "Close your eyes."

She did so and Zuko changed back into what he'd worn to bed.

"Get off of my bed," Zuko said once he was changed.

She looked insulted. "Where do you expect me to sleep?"

"I don't particularly care," Zuko replied. "But that's my bed. Get off."

After a rather fierce glaring contest, Katara got off and sat on the floor. Zuko got into bed and blew out his candle

"You're not going to untie me?" she asked from the floor.

Zuko snorted. "I'd rather not be strangled in my sleep, thanks."

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing if you don't _shut up and let me sleep_."

"Hmph."

Zuko internally rolled his eyes and turned over in his bed, facing away from Katara. A few minutes later he heard the rustling of clothing and ropes as Katara settled down on the floor.

He associated it to the fact that he was still guilty about lying to his father and to the world to get into the castle-he threw her his spare blanket.

After she had settled down and he was half asleep, he heard her thank him. He said nothing.

...

The next morning, Zuko was woken by the light coming through his bedroom window. He needed more sleep. He hated middle of the night War Meetings. He hated middle of the night anything, really.

"Good, you're finally awake."

Zuko had to stop himself before throwing his feet over the edge of the bed like he usually did, which would have caused him to kick Katara quite violently.

"What woke you up?" Zuko asked, getting off of his bed in a different way, searching for something to wear.

"You did."

Zuko glared. "I don't snore."

"Of course you don't," Katara replied. "We trained ourselves to wake up early, just in case you were after us."

He could understand that.

"I'm going to go find you some knew clothes," Zuko said once he'd dressed. "The one's you have on now are too jangly." He gestured to the bells hanging from her skirt.

"It's not like I _chose _to wear these disgusting clothes," Katara said.

Zuko shrugged. "Either way. Just stay put until I get back. Then we can start planning. I mean, I had a plan, but now you're involved..."

"I didn't ask for this!"

"Apparently, you didn't do a lot of things!" Zuko snapped. "Start thinking of a plan, or I might just have to leave you here!"

Zuko growled as he left the room. Agni, was she insufferable! How he was going to put up with her, he had no idea. As if stealing the first White Crystal from his father's throne room was going to be easy, now he had to deal with this little peasant!

What did he ever do to deserve this?

...

Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter. Man, I hope this gets more exciting. I'm just writing this as it comes to me.

Just joshing ya! Partially.

Drop me a review and let me know what you thought!


	3. Chapter 3

The White Crystal was a magnificent jewel, handed down through the ages to Firelord after Firelord. When the war broke out, rebels attempted to steal it. Legend said that the Crystal's power could be used to take down armies. When it was retrieved from a certain rebel group and the members were hanged, the Crystal was severed into four pieces and kept in four hidden locations-one in the Earth Kingdom, one in the Water Tribe, one in the Air Temples, and the final and biggest piece in the Firelords throne room. When combined, the power of the Crystal would be released, its power bestowed upon whoever healed it.

Zuko intended on being that guy. He and the others, minus Katara, had decided he was the best man for the job. Plus, it was his birthright-he was next in line for the throne. And when he became Firelord, he would receive the Crystal anyways.

So why not just take it now?

The only problem was getting it out of the castle. Sure, it was easy with _one _person, and that's how he had planned it-escape of one person, himself. But now he had Katara to deal with, and this wouldn't be easy. For starters, Katara was incredibly stubborn, and most likely wouldn't do a single thing he asked her to. Second, it was probable that she would shoot down any plan he came up with. And thirdly, just getting her from the palace's brothel was going to prove quite difficult if he didn't leave at night.

Zuko smirked as he thought of Katara, locked up with all of those girls.

Oh, what they probably thought of her! The Prince's _personal _Concubine, to be used whenever he wished.

Of course, Zuko didn't intend on using her for sexual purposes. Her constant nagging was simply getting on his nerves, and their just so happened to not be enough room in the servants quarters. So, to the brothel she went. And good riddance.

But he couldn't leave without her. He knew that. If he were to return to the others without her, he'd never have their trust again.

So he worked painstakingly on a new plan, hoping that she would simply swallow her pride and hear him out.

...

Katara sat on her bed, staring at the wall, trying to keep her tears inside of her eyes. These girls were all jerks that didn't deserve lives. Didn't they have anything better to do than tease her? They were hitting nerve deep inside of her, and she was nearly ready to burst from hiding her tears.

"Katara?"

Katara jumped and turned her head, watching one of the only naturally pretty girls in the entire brothel carefully walk towards her. She turned back to staring at the wall, resting her chin on her knees. "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry about the other girls," the girl said softly, tentatively taking a seat on Katara's bed. "They're just jealous. They all want a chance at Zuko, but they see he's got you, and you're so pretty, and they know they have no chance."

Katara sighed shakily. "I don't even have a chance. I'm not his personal concubine. I'm his friend. Or, at least, I'm supposed to be. I'm the sister of his friend. A friend of a friend."

"I see..."

"No, you don't see," Katara snapped. And then she sighed. "I'm sorry. What was your name?"

The girls face brightened by a small increment. "Hana."

"I'm sorry, Hana, I didn't mean to snap."

"It's okay," Hana said. "The other girls snap at me all of the time."

Katara nodded. "Like you said, they're jealous."

Hana seemed shocked. "What do you mean?"

"You're gorgeous. They're jealous."

Hana smiled. "Thank you."

Katara nodded.

"Katara?"

She nodded slightly again.

"I know we've just met each other, but...can I ask why what the others said to you is making you so upset?"

Katara snorted softly. "That could take a long time."

"We've got a while."

Katara sighed. "Okay. Well, it all started when I first met the Avatar..."

Katara started from the moment she found Aang in the Ice Burg and continued all of the way until, not keeping out any detail. She relayed her feelings and views on everything.

Hana braided Katara's hair through her story. She laughed and even cried at appropriate times, and offered her own commentary.

"I see," Hana said once Katara had finished, nearly an hour and a half later. "You love him."

Katara nodded. "I do. So much. And he hates me."

"It doesn't sound to me as though he hates you," Hana said, tying a ribbon around the end of Katara's braid. "It sounds as though the both of you are in the same predicament of loving each other and hiding it well. The Prince is just keeping it hidden to himself as well."

"That's just as though he doesn't feel anything at all," Katara replied.

"Not necessarily," Hana said. "He could be acting on it subconsciously."

"Why would he send me to live in a brothel if he secretly loved me?" Katara asked. "Me being here isn't helping anything-it's just keeping me out of his way."

Katara jumped at the sound of a throat clearing. She was mortified. Too stunned to respond as Prince Zuko said, "Meet me in my room in a half an hour," before departing.

"How much did he hear!" Katara nearly shrieked.

"I didn't see him come in!" Hana replied. "Oh, Katara!"

Katara shook her head, shocked. Her heart was pounding and her face was flushing fiercely. That could not have just happened.

But it had. And now, the plan had left Zuko's mind, and all he could think about was what that prostitute speaking to Katara had said.

Maybe he was hiding something from himself?


	4. Chapter 4

Better explain the history (Zuko joined then pretended to kill Aang...)

Okay, so this is like an imaginary part in the show. It's set at an imaginary part...I guess before Azula "killed" Aang. So in this story, Zuko meets up and joins Aang and they get this plan (which is still a secret. They're looking for these crystals that can be used to take down armies and they're going to end the war). So Zuko then meets up with Azula and they battle Aang together and Zuko pretends to kill Aang, who pretends to die (therefore, Zuko knows Aang is still alive). Sokka, Aang, Katara, Toph and Suki all went off to do something that's still a secret while Zuko returned to the palace with Azula and told the Firelord that Aang had been killed. Katara got captured, and here we are! If you still don't understand, don't be afraid to ask. I can try and explain further. :)

Okay! Here we go!

...

Zuko stormed down the hallway, making his face let the servants know that he was not to be bothered with right now. He was confused. It made him angry.

Katara? In love with him? He must have been hearing things. He must have been! Because if this was the way she showed that she loved someone, then she had a strange way of showing it. Always yelling at him, spewing out crap about how she hated him and didn't trust him, acting so...cold, even while the others had quickly accepted him. Was this the way of showing she loved someone? It really explained why she bossed everyone else around as well.

He sighed and slammed the door to his rooms behind him. He rubbed his temples and began ripping off pieces of armour. He was planning his escape for tonight, and if that was going to happen, then he needed to be quiet. He couldn't do that with the bulky armour.

But that prostitute...that one who was talking with Katara...she'd mentioned that he was hiding something from both Katara and himself. What? He in love with Katara? Impossible! He couldn't see it.

Well, actually...he could. Knowing Katara's feelings for him shined a whole new light on the girl, one that allowed for him to maybe attain these feelings that the water tribe girl had for him.

He shook his head. Impossible. He was hearing things.

...

The hallway seemed about twenty times shorter to Katara because she was dreading the conversation that was to come. She was putting it off, stopping along the way to "admire" the Fire nation artwork, hanging proudly on the wall.

She knew she shouldn't have mentioned anything. She knew she shouldn't have even admitted to herself her love for the Prince. He could never love her back. Especially not now. Not now that he knew her feelings. Now he'd feel pressured to like her back, or ignore her even more, hoping the feelings would fade.

But Katara knew they wouldn't. She'd felt this way since she'd met Prince Zuko. The moment she'd laid eyes on him as he'd barged in on their tribe, destroying the ice and forts around it. Attacking Aang. She'd felt a sudden spark in the pit of her stomach, one she'd never felt before that day. And in all of this time, that spark had never once began to fade. It hadn't so much as flickered in all of this time. She was stuck on Zuko, and knew she'd never not love him.

And now she knew that she'd never be allowed to.

Taking a very deep breath, Katara shakily knocked on the door. Her stomach did a somersault at the sound of his voice behind the door, asking who it was.

She didn't even try to disguise her voice, make herself sound stronger and more confident than she was. "Katara."

Just before he spoke again, Katara decided it would be best to simply pretend that she didn't know he heard anything, and pretend that she didn't feel anything at all. Then he would think he was hearing things and simply forget all about everything he thought he heard.

"Come in." Zuko sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor, facing away from Katara as she gently stepped inside the room. He could barely hear her light footsteps. They'd taken her shoes. His eyes were open, and he could see the outline of her body if he strained his eyes all of the way to the side. She was hunched over. She knew he had heard.

"We're leaving tonight," Zuko stated plainly, staring straight ahead.

Katara attempted speech, but her voice broke. She cleared her throat and tried again. "You have a plan?"

She sounded so unsure of herself. Zuko almost missed her sharp, terse tone.

He stood and turned, looking just next to her face, so he wouldn't have to look her in the eyes.

"Yes," he said. "And it doesn't involve much from you. You will stay here while I go and steal the crystal, and I will come back and get you, and we'll get away. Once outside, you will bend us through the doors-"

"I can't bend," Katara mumbled. "They forced me to drink these herbs-I can't bend for three more days."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to convince himself it wasn't her fault. "Fine. Then we'll have to jump. You'll just have to follow me. Now, I'm going to go and get the crystal. You just stay put. I'll be back in ten minutes."

Katara nodded and watched him go. Then she collapsed down on the floor and sat perfectly still, feeling utterly useless.

...

Retrieving the crystal was simple. He just had to tell the guards he'd forgotten a scroll while he'd been in the throne room with his father and they let him pass. Then he could just walk inside, open the jewel encrusted chest containing the crystal, and slip it inside his messenger bag.

Escaping would prove far more difficult. Because, you see, the box was booby trapped. Only his father knew how to open it.

Zuko bolted from the room, sending out blazing blasts of fire as he passed the guards.

It threw them off for only a couple of seconds, and a few seconds more for them to decide on whether or not they should chase after the Prince of the Fire nation. They eventually decided it was worth it and bolted after him.

They didn't send anything threatening at him, though. Only blasts trying to stop him, all of which failed miserably. Zuko was far, far ahead of them by the time he'd reached his bedroom.

"Come on, let's go!" Zuko said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet. "They're hot on my trail, so RUN!"

Katara said nothing, just followed quickly behind him. It surprised him that she was able to keep up with his speedy pace. He attributed her athletic talent to him chasing them all over the world. Yeah, that could do it.

But they weren't going fast enough. At this rate, they might not make it to the exit before it was permanently locked down by fifty soldiers. They needed to go faster.

As Zuko sped, so did Katara, but she dropped back by a few inches. And in their situation, a few inches was precious seconds that they couldn't spare.

"Keep up!" Zuko exclaimed.

"I'm trying!" Katara said. "Did it ever occur to you that running in a dress is a lot more difficult than in pants?"

Zuko growled. They didn't have time for this. With one flock of his wrist, Katara's slinky dress had disintegrated. She wore leggings made from the skin of some water creature beneath, but it was more of Katara than Zuko'd ever seen. He hoped she attributed the increase in colour to his face to their quick running and the heat of the fire blasts from the guards following behind them.

They were nearly to the door, now. Zuko could see it. He could also see it beginning to slide shut. Soon, they wouldn't be able to get through at all.

Katara, with her freed legs, increased her speed drastically. She was just ahead of him.

Suddenly, she screamed. Her sleeve had caught fire. She quickly patted it out. Zuko chances a glance behind him. The soldiers were hot on their trails, no pun intended. If Zuko were to stop running for only a second, the soldier closest would plough him over in an instant.

"Katara, get out of the way!"

The soldier who had originally set her sleeve on fire was a second away from blasting her head off. Zuko pushed her over. She fell to the ground and quickly managed to scramble beneath the swiftly closing door.

Zuko, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. He yelled out when he felt his back flame up, and actually let out a scream when caught his leg in the door. When the guard lifted the door to run out after him, Zuko took his chance. He ran.

"Are you okay?" Katara shouted.

"Fine!" He wasn't. "Just keep running!"

They ran on for nearly a half an hour before they noticed they weren't being followed anymore. They must have lost them.

Zuko collapsed. He couldn't breathe. He was bleeding. And he was definitely broken.

...

Wow, it's definitely been a while...

Hope you enjoyed this rather lengthy chapter! ^^


	5. Chapter 5

Er...sorry? Eh heh...

Here's a brief summary of what's going on:

Zuko pretended to kill Aang as a part of a plan after he has teamed up with the Avatar and was accepted back at the Fire Nation. He has a plan to steal a crystal that will enable them to win the world. But Katara gets kidnapped and thrown in the castle, so Zuko also has to get her out. In the last chapter, they escaped, but barely. Zuko is all hurt. ^^

...

The two lay on their backs in a cave, the only sound their heavy breathing.

Finally, Katara pulled herself up and crawled over to where Zuko was lying. She knew that he for sure was not okay, no matter what he'd said. She found a few branches in the cave and piled them up at Zuko's side. He struggled to raise his arm, but finally managed to light the twigs. The cave erupted with light, and Katara could see the damage.

Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, Zuko! Come here, let me help."

"What are you going to do?" Zuko said, panting. "You can't bend for three more days, remember?"

She shook her head. "I'll find a way. Did you bring any water at all?"

He nodded. "In my bag."

Katara pulled out a water skin and set it aside so she could assess the damage. She began with his leg, and almost threw up. The door had torn clear through the skin. The bone seemed to be still intact, but the skin all of the way around had been severed. It was so disturbing that Katara had to leave for a moment. Then she came back, calm as ever, and knelt down beside him to begin working with his wounds.

"Is it bad?" Zuko asked, staring at the ceiling of the cave.

"Can't you feel it?"

He didn't reply. He tilted his head so he was staring out the cave exit. He clenched his teeth and fists when he felt water drizzling on his wound. Yes, he could most definitely feel it. Even more so when she tore off a piece of her leggings and tied a bandage around him.

"As soon as I'm able to, I'm going to heal this," she said. "Under normal circumstances you would need stitches, but I should be able to repair it..."

"Don't forget my back," he said.

She nodded. "Can you turn over?"

"With help."

Katara nodded again and got onto her knees so she could help him turn onto his stomach. She propped him up into a sitting position. Then she turned her attention to his wound.

If she'd thought his foot was bad, then she wasn't sure what to call the extremities of this injury. She lifted his shirt away from the mutilated skin, tears stinging at her eyes.

"You got this because of me..."

He didn't reply.

"Zuko..."

"Save it," Zuko finally said. "It didn't mean anything. It was nothing."

Katara's heart sunk. She continued working at his wounds in silence. When she had done as much as she could, she handed him his bag and shirt and crawled to the other side of the cave, where she curled up and went to sleep.

Zuko sighed, knowing he had blown it, big time. Whatever it was that they might have had was definitely not a possibility anymore.

…

Katara woke in the middle of the night to see that Zuko was shivering badly, despite the fact that he was practically on top of the fire. She quickly emptied his bag, searching for something she could use to cover him, and found a dress, presumably – hopefully – for her. Shaking it out, she laid it over him. She sat back with her knees pressed against her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs, looking over Zuko. She reached out and placed a hand on his forehead. He had a fever. His wounds must have been infected. If only she could bend, this would be cured so easily! And if only she had a way to contact Aang and Sokka and Toph and Suki! She wanted to let them know that she was okay, and she really wanted to apologise for getting kidnapped and messing up the whole plan. It was all her fault if their end fell through and she knew it. They needed a water bender.

Katara peered out the entrance of the cave to see that the sun was rising. She wondered what the plan was. Wait until she could bend and heal Zuko? Or try and trek all of the way to the ocean, where Aang and the others would be with Appa?

She looked back at Zuko, knowing he was in no fit state to travel. She wasn't so sure he'd even be okay to move from where he was.

She crawled back inside the cave and reached for the water skin. She held out her hand. The water twitched a little, but wouldn't do much of what she wanted it to. Sighing, she sat back and decided to wait for Zuko to wake back up.

It took almost three more hours.

He blinked awake, suddenly very aware of all of his body parts. His ankle and back, mostly. He groaned and tried to move, but was suddenly pinned back onto his stomach.

"Don't move," Katara said. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I want to sit up." Zuko struggled against her, but found he was very, very weak. When was the last time he'd eaten? Or had a drink of water? It felt like years.

"Let me help you, then," Katara said. He obeyed all of her instructions until, finally, he was in an upright position. It hurt, but once he found himself in the right position, he felt sudden relief.

"I'm thirsty."

Katara, without a word or a reprimand, helped the water skin to his mouth. With her hands right in front of his face, he noticed something.

"What happened to your wrist?"

She glanced at it casually. "I got burned last night, right before you did. I guess I just sort of forgot."

"Does it hurt?"

Katara thought about it. "I suppose it does."

Zuko pushed away the water skin. "Use some of this."

She took it and, using her uninjured hand, poured a little over the wound. She winced. It was cold, but the relief was near instant. She hadn't even realised how uncomfortable and painful it was.

"Are you hungry?" Katara said finally.

_She's in a very weird mood, _Zuko thought. "I guess."

She offered him a piece of some sort of animal. "Where did you get that?" Zuko asked.

"Just outside the cave. I threw a rock at it and it died. I thought you'd probably be hungry when you woke up."

The rest of the day's conversation came and went just as casually. To Zuko, it seemed like Katara was distancing herself from him. Big time. Any conversation had to do with either his wounds or his health. Any time Zuko tried to ask a question about her or the gAang, she brushed it off with a yes or no answer. He had really ruined everything last night, hadn't he? He hadn't meant it. Now that she was so cold towards him…he realised he actually missed thinking that she had feelings for him. He wondered why that was, but decided to ignore it.

Night fell, and Katara didn't have to ask whether or not they were going to attempt travel. Zuko was nowhere near ready. She wouldn't be able to get them far if she had to lug him along, either. So it was here they were going to be staying.

Zuko's fever was still raging. She tore off another piece of her leggings and got it wet with the last of the water, setting it over his forehead. It was no use, as the water was as warm as he was in no time.

She stood up. "I'm going to go find some water, alright?"

"Wait." Zuko's hand shot out and stopped her by gripping her ankle. She looked down at him.

"Yes?"

"Can't this wait until I'm well?"

"You'll never get well without any water," Katara stated, tugging herself free from his grasp. "I have to go."

"Be careful, okay? I can't protect you like this…"

"I can take care of myself," she said defiantly. Then she exited the cave.

The night air was cool and felt nice against her burned and blistered skin. It didn't hurt that bad, really. Her sleeve had caught most of the burns. It was Zuko whom she was _really _worried about.

She walked for a long while. Being a water bender, she was able to sense if water was nearby, even if she was unable to bend at the moment. But the area was so dry that the only speck of liquid she sensed was quite a ways away.

She walked for what she presumed to be about an hour and a half before she sensed a great expanse of water. Breaking through a group of trees, she was excited to find a lake.

She was so excited, in fact, that she set aside her water skin and instantly immersed herself in the clear liquid. She got her hair wet, cleaned off her burn wound, filled the water skin, and began going through her favourite bending techniques.

Wait…bending techniques? She let out a squeal of excitement at the realisation that she could bend once again. She was so excited, in fact, that she decided to put aside her cold feelings toward Zuko to run to him and tell him that she could do her favourite thing in the world again.

Well, that's what she'd planned on doing, at least. But it seemed that, in all of her excitement, she hadn't realised that she'd been surrounded.

By Fire Benders.

Hooking the water skin onto her leggings, she took off running. Uncapping the skin allowed her constant access to water whenever she needed it, and she definitely needed it. She put out flames headed right in her direction and managed to freeze at least three Fire Benders in place. One of them she knocked out, and a few more sunk into some mud. That left only two fire benders, chasing after her at full speed.

Katara was at a definite disadvantage here. The first was that the only thing she'd eaten in the past two days was a squirrel-possum she'd found outside the cave, and she hadn't gotten much sleep since she was kidnapped, either. These fire benders were trained to live on a grape and two seconds of sleep per month. She couldn't do that.

But she was at a certain advantage as well. She'd been running from and dodging fire benders for the last however many years since she'd discovered Aang. So she knew what to expect and how to protect herself.

There were several happenings in which she thought she'd lost them, but they were quick to find her once again. She was nearing the cave. She knew she couldn't lead them there – there was no way Zuko would be able to defend himself if she were to bring them there. So she made a sharp right, leading them around the cave quickly. They didn't suspect a thing, but she was stuck now. She could either keep running until she got tire and failed, keep running until they got tired and left her alone (which wasn't likely), or fight back. She realised she couldn't keep dodging. That wasn't going to happen. She needed to get rid of these guys, get back to Zuko and heal him, and then they needed to get out of here. She led them back into the forest they'd come from. She was far in front of them, so she had a chance to catch her breath before they were upon her, and she had to fight.

…

I hope the lengthier chapter makes up for my lengthy absence! ^^


	6. Chapter 6

Look at that! Two updates in one week? I must be sick or something, huh? ^^ I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

…

As soon as the first fire bender broke through the trees, Katara was ready for them. It took quite a bit of effort, but she managed to bend the water within the newer, smaller trees around her. The branches whipped out and snapped at the fire bender's arms, entangling him in their vines. He let out a yell of rage, and burned the trees off of his skin. Katara managed to create water from the air and put out the flames before a forest-fire erupted. Then other fire benders were pouring in around her, and she had to pay attention. With a flick of her wrist, one of them sank into the earth a ways, in an area where the soil was a bit moist. Katara smirked as she fought. It was strange how easy fighting was becoming for her.

Finally, she was down to one bender. The others lay unconscious or broken or tangled around her.

"You will not win, thief," said the fire bender, though he looked a little afraid. "We will capture you."

Katara smirked. "It seems you do not know who I am," she said.

Before she could speak more, he shot a blast of fire straight for her head. Katara brought up a shield of plants to protect herself, and then turned those plants on the fire bender.

"Do you know who I am?" Katara continued, snapping the plants like whips at the man. He was pretty good at dodging, which wasn't normally a skill for a fire bender.

"The Prince's concubine," the man replied, sending daggers of fire straight for Katara's heart. They were put out in an instant.

"Is that really what you think?" she replied, spinning a little as she pulled water from the air and earth alike, then freezing it in daggers and sending them soaring through the air, straight for the man. One of them clipped his arm, where it wasn't covered in armour, and blood dripped down to the earth. He winced, but it wasn't enough to really do a lot of damage. More of an irritating pain.

"I-I don't know," he stuttered, trying out a new technique – surrounding Katara in fire. It was quickly doused out.

"I'm Katara of the Watertribe," she smirked, sending whips of water across the distance between them. "Although I'm sure you've heard of me, let me give you a quick run-down."

She accentuated each point with a new move. "Water bending master." Knocked him over with a wall of water. "Blood bender." Though she hated it, he was forced by her hand to crawl back and stand up in the position she wanted him in. Fear shone brightly in his eyes. "The Avatar's traveling companion." He was tied up in the trees once again, this time tightly enough that he wouldn't be able to bend his way out. She stepped closer, getting right in his face. "And the one who will bring Prince Zuko to his knees."

A block of ice to the head and he was unconscious. She really couldn't bring herself to kill him, no matter how much she despised the Firenation. Quickly, making sure the water in her water skin was still clean and drinkable, she bolted off towards the cage, hoping they hadn't found Zuko, hoping he was safe.

She wasn't quite sure why she'd added that last part. Maybe because she hoped so strongly that it would be true. She wasn't sure. But something about that fight made her decide that being angry with Zuko over something as small as saying that he really didn't mean to save her, that he didn't care, that it was nothing. Thinking back on it, it was really quite a stupid reason to be so cold towards Zuko. She would right that immediately.

Making sure she hadn't been followed, Katara ducked inside the cave. Zuko was laying there, quietly staring at the ceiling. When she entered, he jumped into a sitting position, wincing.

"Katara!" Zuko exclaimed. "I heard the fight. You…uh…hurt or anything?"

Katara smiled a little and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I got some water for you."

Zuko nodded and allowed her to help the liquid down his throat. Then the healing began.

"Alright," said Katara. "Which would you like me to do first? More intense wounds tend to hurt a bit more…"

"Then do my back," Zuko said, removing his shirt slowly. "It hurts the least."

Katara nodded. "Alright. This might sting a little bit, but bear with me, okay?"

Zuko nodded. "Okay."

Katara took a few deep breaths before she uncapped the water skin and brought the water and her hands to Zuko's broken, burned skin. Zuko's back arched and he choked, making a sort of soundless scream. He breathed heavily for a few moments before sighing and slouching forward again.

"Oh, agni," Zuko breathed. "Katara, you have no idea how good that feels."

Katara chuckled lightly as she continued to work. "I think I have an idea."

Zuko didn't reply, just allowed her to continue to work her magic on his injuries.

"You're in luck," Katara said, pulling the water away. "You're scar free."

"Really?" Zuko said, craning his neck to get a glimpse. He couldn't help a little grin. Though there still were a few marks from previous injuries, the newest injury hadn't left a single mark.

Katara nodded. "I'm not sure about the other wound, though…" she said. "That one's a little worse off."

Zuko took a deep breath and moved around so Katara could get to his injured leg. She gently put it in her lap. "Just get it over with."

Katara smiled comfortingly and began to use the water she had to clean the wound, which she'd managed to keep clean and free of infection. Then she brought the water to his leg, and began her healing.

Within seconds, Zuko had screamed and passed out.

…

"Zuko…"

Zuko turned his head so he was facing away from the sound. He didn't want to get up.

"Come on, Zuko…time to get up!"

He was embarrassed by the strange sound that came out of his throat, but didn't care. He was too tired to care at the moment. But something felt nice…what was touching his skin?

"Zuko, if you don't get up right now, I'm just going to leave you for the fire benders, take the crystal and save the world myself!"

Zuko sighed. That's right. He was traveling with Katara. She was magical. She had healed him.

Wait.

Zuko sat up straight and pulled a mysterious dress off of his body. It must have been the only thing Katara could find for a blanket, he supposed. He pulled his leg close to his body and examined his leg.

Katara had been correct. There was a thick, red scar circling all the way around his ankle. Carefully…he twisted his ankle…clockwise…counter-clockwise…

Carefully…he got to his feet…

"I can walk!" Zuko exclaimed stupidly.

Katara laughed. "Congratulations!"

Without thinking, Zuko wrapped Katara into a hug, smiling like an idiot. Then he remembered who he was and he stepped back, coughing awkwardly.

"Er…thanks."

Katara only laughed. "Sure thing, your highness." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's get a move on. We can probably make it to the others before nightfall, if we hurry."

Zuko nodded and packed all of his stuff into his bag. For the first time since he'd ripped the crystal from its booby-trapped chest, Zuko examined it. It was small. He could wrap his whole hand around it and his fingers would touch his palms. It had a faint reddish glow, though the crystal itself was, as its name told, white, with little shimmers of blue. It was really very pretty, though he'd never say something so ridiculous out loud.

Carefully wrapping the crystal in Katara's spare dress, he buttoned his bag and the two left the cave.

Katara went out first, making sure that none of the Fire benders from before were still around. The coast was clear, so the two set off in the correct direction.

They passed through a town and stopped at a small market to buy something they could eat along the way, some things they could save for later. They couldn't stay long, as they had delayed leaving for long enough.

Just as the sun was beginning to set, they reached the ocean.

"Where are they going to be?" Zuko asked, scanning the shore both ways.

"I'm not sure, but I'm almost positive they wouldn't come up on shore," Katara said, peering off at the horizon.

"What, they're going to make us swim?" Zuko asked irritably.

Katara grinned and pointed off into the distance. "I'm thinking yes. You ready?"

Zuko grimaced as he noticed she wasn't kidding. There, right off in on the horizon, was the ship the Avatar and his friends had been using to traverse the world – Appa, floating in the water.

…

Well, this was going to be a bit longer, but I decided this was a pretty good place to stop before the chapter go too busy. I hope you enjoyed it!

Who's MEGA excited for the premier of Korra tomorrow? AHHH! I can't wait! ^^

Drop me a review if you get the chance! ^^


	7. Chapter 7

The swim was not a pleasant one, despite the fact that Katara enjoyed swimming probably more than anything else. With Zuko getting angry and blasting steam into the air every minute or so, Katara understood _why _she wasn't having any fun.

"Just relax," Katara said finally, when about six gallons of water poured down on her head. She had an even pace going, while Zuko continued to kick and claw the water like he was drowning. She wondered how he made it this far. "All you have to do is relax and just go with the water."

"I hate water," Zuko grumbled.

"How can you hate water?" Katara asked, shocked. "Water is everything! You're made up of water!"

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," he muttered.

Katara rolled her eyes. "Just come on. You can do it. Watch how I swim. You just have to pull yourself through the water...glide through it."

Zuko stopped thrashing for a few seconds to do what she said. He felt himself begin to blush, watching the way she moved. He shook his head and began to swim, copying her ways, if only a little.

"They can't come out to meet us?"

Katara sighed.

...

"Zuko! Katara!" Sokka screamed, pretty much defeating the purpose of then hiding. "Hey, guys! Over here!"

"Like we could miss a giant bison floating in the water," Zuko grumbled.

Sokka threw a rope over the side of Appa for them to grab a hold of. He watched Zuko swim sloppily over to the rope.

"Wow, Zuko," Sokka said. "You swim like a girl."

Zuko glared and began heating himself to rid the water from his body. It came off in steam, successfully blinding Sokka, at least for the moment. "Shut up," he mumbled.

"Katara!" Aang exclaimed, throwing his arms around the girl. Zuko couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy deep inside of his stomach. He had to restrain himself from knocking the airbending world saviour off of his own bison.

"Let's get moving," Zuko said. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible. It won't be long before they send out the ships and the blimps."

Aang nodded and removed his arms from Katara's waist, settling himself on Appa's gigantic head. With a cheerful, "Yip yip!" the group was off, headed to an island just off a ways.

After they had spent time catching up and Sokka and Aang fretted over how worried they'd been about Katara, Zuko decided it was time for business.

"Did you get them?"

"Don't doubt our abilities, fire-pants," Sokka said, grinning. "Of _course_ we got them. Now it's just a matter of putting them all together."

"Not so fast," Toph said. "We still haven't found the one from the Air Temple."

"But that shouldn't be too difficult," Aang replied. "I remember exactly where it is."

"Then let's get going," Katara said. "I'd like to get this over with."

Zuko glanced over and couldn't help but wonder why she was in such a hurry. Did she want to get away from him? Or…maybe it was someone else. Toph? Her brother? …Aang? He watched as she stared pointedly ahead, not quite at Aang, but not quite away from him, either. Zuko felt more than a little confused. He decided he'd ask her about it that night, when they stopped to make camp and everyone else was asleep.

…

Katara sighed and stretched as she leaned back against Appa's saddle, enjoying the feel of the wind on her face, pulling through the hair she let down and causing her to be more relaxed than she'd been in a long time. She wondered what Hana was up to. With a pang of regret, she wished she could have brought the girl with her. She felt like they could probably be great friends if they were still together.

She stretched again and shook out her hair, leaning far back over Appa's saddle. Her back cracked and she sighed, sinking down to curl up in a little ball, preparing herself for a deep sleep until they reached the island, which wouldn't be for at least two more hours.

That is, she'd intended on sleeping. Before she was suddenly hit with hundreds of thousands of thoughts. Thoughts of Aang, thoughts of Zuko. Thoughts on how to easily break it to Aang that she wasn't interested and ways to subtly let Zuko know that she wanted him to be hers.

Because now she knew that this was what she wanted. Opening her eyes into slits, she allowed herself a quick peek at the firebender. He was asleep, it seemed, leaning back over the saddle, arms out at his sides, head lolled backwards. She could see his muscles strain against his shirt as he breathed; his angle was so awkward that it pulled his clothes taught against his body. The foot that had previously been injured twitched and he muttered something in his sleep.

Katara shut her eyes and turned back over. Maybe she would be subtle, maybe she wouldn't be. All she knew is that she would get the point across if it were the last thing she did.

…

They finally reached the island. Katara was woken by Aang gently shaking her by the shoulders, while Zuko was rudely awoken when Aang airbended the saddle to the ground.

"Ouch!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet, immediately putting out his hands to protect himself.

Katara smiled at him. "What would you guys like for supper tonight, then?"

"Pasta!" Aang exclaimed.

"Meat!" Sokka shouted.

"Food!" Toph said loudly, stomping her foot.

"Whatever," Zuko said, thinking about the food he'd eaten the past few days while he stayed at the castle and nearly gagging when he realised he'd be back to sad excuses for "pasta" and "meat" and "food."

"Alright," Katara said, rifling through one of the saddle bags. "It looks like I can make pasta. And if you guys were to go hunting, I could easily make some meat to go along with it. What do you say?"

"I say, where's my boomerang?" Sokka exclaimed. He brandished it from his belt and ran off into the woods, calling out like a savage.

"Alright, I guess I'll get the pasta started, then," Katara said, pulling things out. Because they were on an island, water was abundant. Katara bended water from the ocean, straining out the salt and microorganisms and anything else dwelling in the water, then placed it in a pot over a fire Zuko started for her, letting it boil before she added anything to make sure everything in it died. Zuko watched her as she added the pasta and began stirring the liquid with her bending. Katara glanced up to catch Zuko watching her. She smiled slightly.

"Did you need anything?"

Zuko flushed. "No," he said, barely audible, before turning around and heading off in the other direction.

What was wrong with him lately? He'd never been like this about a girl before. He grumbled angrily to himself as he sat down against Appa's saddle and crossed his arms, staring off across the clearing they were in. Toph was doing pretty much the same thing, only she was staring off into nothing. Aang was working on putting up the tents. Zuko would have helped him, but he didn't feel like moving. He'd put it up later.

…

Zuko was definitely regretting the fact that he'd put off putting up a tent, especially when, shortly after supper, the sky opened up and a torrential downpour hit them out of nowhere.

"Quick, into my tent," Katara called, waving Zuko over as he watched the others slip inside their own shelters. Zuko took her advice, jogging to where she was holding the tent flap open for him. He ducked inside, quickly followed by Katara.

She had the room circled in candles, and was clumsily messing with her match book, trying to light the soaked matches. Zuko easily sent out bits of spark in all directions, lighting the room quite effectively.

Katara grinned at him. "Thanks. So, uh…tea?"

She moved to the other side of the tent where she kept a thermos of tea and a few cups. As she poured them, Zuko looked around her tent. The floor was covered in furs. It reminded him immensely of the frozen homes of the water nation, and he assumed that's what it was meant to reflect.

Zuko turned back to Katara and his face flushed red when he realised she had stripped out of her wet clothes and was now standing in her pants and a thin camisole. She handed him a cup of tea, and he knew she purposely made for their hands to brush.

"This storm is pretty unfortunate," she said after a moment. "Do you think it will stop long enough for you to go out and set up your tent?"

Zuko shook his head. "I don't think so. This storm will probably be raging on late into tomorrow morning by the way the clouds were looking."

"That's too bad," Katara said. "I guess you'll just have to stay in here with me."

Zuko swallowed hard. "I don't think your brother would allow that."

She shrugged. "Probably not. In fact, he'll probably be in here in a few minutes to pull you over to his and Aang's tent. So if there's anything you need to tell me, you should probably tell me now, while we're still alone."

Zuko's mind went blank. Was there something he needed to tell her? By the look in her eyes he could guess what she wanted him to tell her, but he wasn't so sure if that's what _he _wanted to tell her. Were they the same thing?

He began to stammer awkwardly. "K-k-k…"

"Yes?"

He could hear rustling outside of the tent and knew he only had a few seconds left.

"K-k-k…"

"Yes…?"

"K-" He gave up speaking. His lips were on hers in a split second. After only three seconds, thought, Zuko was roughed backwards quite roughly and pulled out of the tent and through the rain by a very angry brother.

…

Oh my gosh I hate that there's no Korra this weekend… ;~;

Leave me a review if you get the chance! Thanks for reading this! I hope it's actually good…


	8. Chapter 8

As the rain continued to pour, a new storm was brewing inside the tent inhabited by Sokka, Aang, and, most recently, Zuko.

"Ow! Hey! Quit it!"

Sokka did not "quit it." Instead, he threw Zuko to the floor and loomed over him angrily as Zuko glared.

"That was completely unnecessary," Zuko said, brushing off his shoulders as he stood up.

Sokka shoved him back over.

"Sokka!" Aang exclaimed. "Give Zuko a chance to explain himself! I'm sure that whatever he did wasn't that bad and it can all be explained…"

"I caught him macking on my sister!" Sokka growled.

Aang's large eyes blinked once. Twice. Then: "Zuko," he said, dangerously quiet. "Would you care to explain yourself?"

"Yeah, you better explain!" Sokka nearly shrieked. "Has this happened before? Oh my spirits – _were you two making out when you were all by yourself and trying to find us?"_

Zuko rolled his eyes and got to his feet once again, planting them firmly in case the pony-tail boy felt the need to shove him over again.

"This was the first time," Zuko said quietly, trying to sound calm, but his confusion broke through in the midst of his next sentence. "But you have to believe me – I'm confused about this, too! I didn't know it was going to happen – it was so sudden! And Katara –"

"Typical," Sokka said. "You're going to make it sound like it was her fault."

"No, I –"

"When really, it was all you. You took advantage of her!" Sokka shoved Zuko again.

"No!" Zuko exclaimed. "Please, just calm down for a second and listen! Katara asked me if there was anything I had to tell her, and she – she told me she loved me back at the palace –"

"She _told _you?" This time it came from Aang, who looked absolutely crushed.

"Well, not directly –"

"So you're _lying?"_ Sokka growled, shoving Zuko again.

"No, she was telling someone else – I just overheard –!"

"You were listening in on a private –"

"_Enough!" _Zuko shouted. The flames of the candles around the room rose high and the room became boiling hot. Zuko stood hunched over, panting, his arms held out in front of him. "Just _let me explain." _

Sokka blinked. Then he sat down, cross-legged and looked away snootily. "Fine. Explain. See if I care."

Zuko rolled his eyes, but sat down as well. After a moment, Aang sat down as well.

"When we were back at the palace," Zuko began, "Katara got drafted into the job of being my concubine." Before Sokka could interrupt, as Zuko knew he planned on doing, he held up a hand to silence him. "We didn't do anything, I swear. But she slept in the harem with the other concubines, and while she was there, she made friends with one of the girls. She was telling her about what was going on, about how we'd been travelling together, about how she was confused about her feelings, and finally, as I entered, she let slip that she loves me. We didn't really have any chance to talk about it, but ever since then, our relationship has been…weird. Back at the tent, she asked me if I had anything to tell her, and I knew I didn't have a lot of time because you were coming to get me, and I knew what she wanted to hear, so I did the first thing that came to my mind that would let her know I feel the same way. I kissed her."

The others were silent a moment.

"You love her, then?" Aang finally asked.

Zuko looked at the boy, the poor boy, who was deeply in love with the water tribe girl. Though Zuko knew it would break his heart, he had to say it. "I do."

"Hold up!" Sokka exclaimed. "I'll decide whether or not you love my sister!" He placed a hand on his chin and thoroughly examined the fire-bender.

"Alright," Sokka finally said with a sigh. "You can love her. But _only _if you're good."

Zuko smiled. "Thanks, man."

"And I hope you're happy," Aang said quietly, looking away. "I'm going to bed now. Goodnight, guys."

"I'm sorry, Aang. I know you –"

"Forget it, Zuko," Aang said sadly, crawling over to the other side of the tent. He curled up in a pile of furs and said nothing else the rest of the night.

Katara sat in her tent, rubbing her fingers across her lips. She smiled, feeling incredibly giddy, and she hugged her legs tighter to her body.

She knew this meant he felt the same way. He just hadn't had enough time to say it. She felt a bit bad for him, having to endure Sokka, but she knew that, in the end, everything would turn out okay. Because Zuko loved her back.

…

**REALLY SHORT. I'M SO SORRY.**

**I feel like I've failed you…**

**Well, I hope you liked what little there was! ^^**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys…**

**It's been a while, hasn't it?**

**Sorry.**

**Here's a nice chapter to make you feel better.**

**I figured you'd all be pretty upset at the lack of Korra tomorrow.**

**Does anyone know when the new season is supposed to start?**

**Soon, I hope…**

**Well, I'll stop rambling! Here's the newest chapter! ^^**

…

The rain had cleared by the next morning, and the only people to have gotten any sleep were Sokka, who had accepted what had gone on with Katara and Zuko, and Toph, who had no idea what had even gone on the night before. Aang didn't catch a wink, feeling very much too upset to sleep, and Katara was by far too giddy to sleep. Zuko had been dozing in and out, guilty about basically crushing the young avatar's hopes at being with the beautiful water-bending girl.

As Katara cooked breakfast, no one spoke. Toph immediately sensed something was off and she kept to herself as the others were doing, but Sokka, unaware as to the things, was blabbing on and on about totally irrelevant things. Whatever passed through his brain, apparently. Katara didn't want to say anything to Zuko, and vice versa, as they didn't want to upset Aang with their words. So, aside from Sokka, everyone was silent as Katara cooked, and as she dealt out food, and as they packed up.

Toph offered to help Katara pack, though once they were in the tent, she was really just in the way.

"So," she said, picking at her teeth as she stretched across the floor, right in Katara's path. "Why's everyone being so quiet?"

Katara rolled her eyes as she stepped over Toph – she really hadn't expected her to help – and she shook her head. "Just a quiet day, I suppose."

"Everyone obviously knows something that I don't," Toph replied. "And I don't appreciate being kept out of the loop. What's going on that no one's talking about."

"Nothing's going on," Katara replied, fidgeting a little bit as she rolled up her furs. "Just that Zuko and I kissed last night…"

"You _what?"_ Toph exclaimed, accidently shooting shards of rocks from the ground in her excitement.

Katara shrugged. "It was just a little kiss…nothing major…"

"Oh, this is major alright, Sugar Queen," Toph said, sitting up and gazing in the direction of where Katara was standing. "This is very major. Do you know what this is going to do to Aang?"

Katara was being stubborn. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't be so stupid," Toph snapped. "It's obvious the boy is madly in love with you. How could you do this to him?"

"I wasn't _trying _to do anything to him!" Katara said defensively. "Can we please just drop this? I feel bad enough already. And I don't want to feel bad about being in love for the first time ever."

Toph was quiet for a moment. "You sure you love him?"

Katara sighed. "I've been in love with him almost as long as I've known him," she replied. "Now, let's get a move on. I want to get this over with."

"Get what over with?"

Katara shook her head. "I have no idea."

Toph rolled her sightless eyes. Teenagers.

…

They set off shortly after Katara and Toph's exchange. It was only a few hours before they reached the Air Temple, and then Aang led them through the temple, straight to where he knew the last piece of crystal would be. It was just where he said it would be, and they put it with the others – they now had all four pieces of Crystal. All they had to do was combine their bending and together they would have to give it to Zuko.

This was where it chose to be the most challenging. With their minds they needed to show that they believed Zuko was the most worthy of them all to accept the power the Crystal had to offer. Toph believed, Katara believed, but for some reason, Aang was unable, even for a few moments, forget about what had happened between Zuko and the girl he loved in order to show that he believed Zuko was worthy.

"Maybe we should take a break," Zuko said, panting and holding his head from the number of times the crystal had rejected him and sent him flying backwards.

Katara nodded. "That's a good idea." She turned to Aang. "Aang? Can I speak to you for a moment?"

He didn't answer, and Katara sighed. "In private, please?" When he again didn't answer, she looked to Sokka for help.

"Well, would you look at that over there," Sokka said. "Come on, guys, why don't we go observe it for a suitable amount of time to allow for a motivational conversation?" He grabbed a hold of Zuko and Toph's arms and pulled them along behind him to the other side of the temple, just out of earshot.

"Is everything alright?" Katara asked after a moment.

"No," Aang said, not looking at Katara. "No, everything is not alright. You're with Zuko. I didn't even have a chance…"

Katara shook her head. "I'm so sorry, Aang. You're a really great guy. Really, I honestly mean that. Anyone would be lucky to have you. But…"

"But you'd rather be with Zuko, the talented, attractive prince."

Katara shook her head. "I don't like him for how talented and attractive he is," she responded. Then she added, with a grin, "If that's what I was looking for, you'd be a sure-yes."

Aang sighed and offered a small smile. "Really?"

"Of course!" Katara exclaimed. "I mean, you're the avatar! Who's more talented than the avatar? And I always have been a sucker for tattoos."

Aang looked at the ground with his smile still on his face and he rubbed the back of his head. "I guess Zuko is a pretty good guy," he finally said. "And he's definitely worthy to have the powers of the crystal. I'm sorry I caused so much trouble."

Katara shook her head and smiled. "It's alright. It's important that you understand."

He sighed. "I guess I do. I love you, Katara."

She smiled again. "I love you, too, Aang. Just…not like that."

Aang held his arms open. "Hug?"

Katara giggled and threw herself at him. "For you? Anything."

…

"Alright," Zuko said, his fingers tingling from the fire that was blowing from them. "Are we all set?"

Aang nodded, his expression firm. "We're all set. Ready…set…go!"

All at once they used their powers to circle the crystal in earth, air, fire, and water. When the pieces were completely glued together, they closed their eyes and willed the powers of the crystal to find their way to Zuko.

This time, instead of backfiring, the crystal disintegrated and, with a flash of light and the widening of Zuko's eyes, it surrounded Zuko, lifting him gently into the air for a total of thirty seconds, before he was dropped lightly on his feet.

Once there, he closed his eyes and shook his head. When his eyes were once again opened, he grinned. "I know how we're going to end this war."

…

**One more chapter after this! ^^**


	10. Chapter 10

"Hello, father."

Fire Lord Ozai couldn't say he was entirely surprised, though he truly hadn't expected his traitor of a son to return. After lying to him, abusing his hospitality and stealing from him, he figured his son had done all he could to completely ruin his reputation in Ozai's eyes.

"What do you want?" Ozai hissed. "Haven't you done enough to me already? You have _disgraced this family, _you ungrateful little _idiot."_

"I'm grateful enough," Zuko said. He was wearing a hooded cloak and a soft smile. "I'm grateful to Uncle Iroh for raising me when my own father wouldn't. I'm grateful to my mother, for teaching me the love you denied me. I'm grateful to the Avatar. I'm grateful to Katara and Sokka and Toph and to everyone else I've met since you had me banished. But, most importantly, I'm grateful to you."

"What?" Ozai snapped, his voice still low and snake-like. He was still faced away from his son, facing the altar in the throne room, his legs crossed and his hands on his knees, but his head swivelled to the side so he could see his traitor from his peripheral vision.

"Yes, father," Zuko continued. "I'm grateful for every horrible thing you've ever done to me. Because it's made me who I am today. And for that, I have to thank you."

"You came back to thank me?" Ozai's eyes narrowed.

"To thank you, and to say goodbye," Zuko replied.

Ozai growled and lunged for Zuko, flames blowing from his fists. Zuko pushed through the flame and grabbed his father by his fist, twisting his arm around his back and forcing his father onto his knees. No matter how hard Ozai struggled, he couldn't break free.

"Learned a new trick, did you?" Ozai jeered.

"I've learned a lot of new things," Zuko said. "And I've taught a few of these things to some friends of mine. Aang!"

Zuko could see that Ozai was afraid, and he began to struggle once again. Aang flew dramatically into the room with his glider. Zuko rolled his eyes.

"Fire Lord Ozai, you have abused your fire bending and your position as Fire Lord," Aang said. "You have destroyed the balance in the world. The world is meant to be equal in Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, but you and your forefathers have destroyed that balance. It is my duty as avatar to restore the balance."

"You're just a kid!" Ozai snapped. "What are you going to do?"

"The only thing I can do," Aang said.

He took a deep breath and his eyes closed. He placed his hand on Ozai's head and opened his eyes. Zuko had to close his eyes at the bright lights suddenly filling the room. After a few moments, he felt his father collapse, and he heard Aang breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's done," Aang said. "I did just what you told me to, Zuko. It's done."

"What did you…do to me?" Ozai groaned, weakly sitting himself back up. He tried to blast fire at Aang, but nothing happened.

"I took away your bending," Aang replied. "This way, you can't cause any more damage than you've already created. Fire Lord Ozai, you're under arrest."

…

Ozai was in prison. Zuko had moved into the palace, and would have his coronation the next day. There was only one thing missing.

Zuko, dressed in his nicest pajamas, left his bedroom. Telling the guards he was just going for a walk around the palace because he couldn't sleep and, no, he didn't need an escort, he headed straight for the room housing Katara and Toph. The harem had been emptied since that afternoon, all of the girls given proper clothing and housing, and a reassurance that jobs were being looked into for each and every one of them.

He knocked, and, when Katara gave him permission, he entered the room. He wasn't too surprised to see Hana, the concubine Katara had met during her stay at the palace, seated in the room as well. They had really taken to each other.

"Katara?" Zuko said, nodding to the other girls. "May I speak with you?"

Katara smiled and nodded, getting to her feet. "I'll be right back."

When the door was closed and they were headed for the garden outside of the palace, Katara smiled. "So should I start referring to you as Fire Lord?"

Zuko grimaced. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't. Zuko is just fine."

"Good," Katara replied. "Because I wouldn't even if you wanted me to."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't expect anything else from you."

As they walked, Zuko reached out and took her hand. She smiled squeezed his hand.

And that was when Zuko knew that everything was finally right in the world.

**...**

**All done! I sincerely hope you liked this story. It was my first attempt at a Zutara multi-fic, and I'm not so sure about it…but…well, yeah, hope you liked it. ^^**

**Again, I don't own Avatar or anything else you recognise. See ya! ^^**


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